Federal Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar has ordered cutting power supply, in case of non-payment of power bills within stipulated periods, to public or private entities without discrimination. He has also demanded strict measures for the recovery of outstanding amounts. He was presiding over a meeting of power distribution companies (Discos) held here on Thursday to review performance and recovery. Officials from Discos, the Ministry of Water and Power, and the managing director of the National Transmission and Despatch Company were in attendance.
A senior official of the Ministry of Water and Power said that the cumulative amount of power bills stood at Rs41 billion in the month of February 2012. Out of the total, Discos successfully recovered Rs36.5 billion from consumers during the month. However, officials said that the amount of running defaulters was still in the billions. On the flipside; “The recovery of amounts from running defaulters has improved by around 5%,” officials said. CEOs of Discos informed the meeting that defaulted amounts had reduced due to improvements in recovery.
While taking serious notice of un-metered power supply to some provincial and municipal government offices in Sindh, Qamar asked the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company and the Sukkur Electric Supply Company to install meters or disconnect power supply to such consumers. He said that there should be no billing on the basis of load calculation anywhere in the country for any consumer. All billing should be based on the actual use of electricity through metering, he said.
He said that improvements in recovery will help enhance fuel supply to power units and result in an increase in power generation. He also directed officials to take up any problems with public sector departments on a regular basis and recover outstanding dues. He, however, expressed satisfaction over the overall recovery rates of discos during the month of February and stressed the need for further progress.
The Minister also claimed that due to increases in power generation, unannounced load shedding has been curtailed in the country. In this regard, he asked Discos to follow load management schedules. “There should be no complaints of inflated bills, and the officials involved in such activities should be taken to task. Complaints of low voltage and short circuiting must be addressed immediately,” he added.
Qamar revealed that an Anti-Load shedding Cell is being established in the Ministry of Water and Power to streamline load management as per requirements.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 30th, 2012.
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His should be the first followed by Mr. Prez and then Mr. PM.
SC has not directed the govt, what Interest he has to give such orders without intervention of SC.